


Inside the Darkness

by yourrhinestoneeyes



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, Creepy, Dollotrons, Drama, F/M, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Lobotomy, Mutilation, Pyg is trying to help Jim, Self-Harm, Trauma, Violence, body image issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2019-01-22 14:02:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12483300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourrhinestoneeyes/pseuds/yourrhinestoneeyes
Summary: Professor Pyg has got quite the fixation and admiration for Jim Gordon. That is why he is determined to help Sofia see the light and see that her heart should only belong to Gordon and nobody else.





	1. Good Work My Doll

Pyg found himself captivated by Jim Gordon. The man exuded masculinity, he was brave, rugged, and in charge. He despised the way the other policemen scurried from the GCPD and to the Iceberg Lounge, they hid behind Penguin, and took orders from him. All the while Jim Gordon did nothing, but try to clean the city up. That was why Pyg decided he was going to try and help Gordon clean up the city, that was why he began taking out and making an example of the cops that were on Penguin’s payroll. He had found himself momentarily confused when Gordon seemed disgusted and angered by the presents he left him, the traitors with their heads replaced with the heads of pigs, but then he reminded himself that Gordon was scared to step out of line, to openly admit the admired Pyg’s work.

One night while watching the detective he spotted him with a woman. A lovely young lady with long and curly dark hair, her brown eyes alight with love and mischief. He noted the way that she looked at Gordon, the love in her eyes, and the way she kissed him was something taken straight from a romantic film. Pyg had felt his heart swell with a sense of happiness to see the detective had a lady to love, but he also realized she might be distracting him and keeping him from his full potential. Initially he had considered having his Dollotrons follow the lady home, take her, and bring her to him, but he decided against the plan. Instead he had decided to wait and to watch, maybe she wasn’t the core of his issue.

A week later a Dollotron approached Pyg, the emotionless creature pulling on his apron and asking to meet with him. His creation had informed him that they had seen the lovely lady from before, except this time she was with Penguin. The news had left Pyg confused, honestly, he had believed it to be a lie or a mistake until he realized his perfect creations did not lie and rarely made mistakes. So, he insisted that his beautiful creature took him to them, to show him what they had seen.

He followed his Dollotron through the night streets of Gotham, sticking to alleys and darkened streets to remain out of sight of those who would not understand the beauty of his child. They arrived outside of the Iceberg Lounge, there he saw a scene that was familiar, but very wrong. Near the large double doors of the Lounge stood the horrid Penguin and the lovely girl, the lovely girl he knew to love Gordon. Now she stood with her arms wrapped around Penguin’s neck, he had his hands on her hips holding her petite body close against him. She looked down at him with love in her eyes, a look that Pyg felt she should have fully reserved for Gordon. Confusion and rage filled Pyg as he watched her lean down pressing her lips to Penguin’s.

He nearly considered slicing them to pieces, she was obviously not worthy of the wonderful James Gordon and his love. He pulled his blade from its sheath and began to step from the darkness, intent on murdering the treacherous couple….That was until a realization dawned on him.

This woman was merely confused. That was all. Pyg giggled to himself as he realized the truth of the matter.

“My dear doll, follow Ms. Falcone home tonight and bring her to me.” He ordered turning to face his precious creation.

His doll stared up at him, he could hardly see their eyes beneath their improved porcelain face, they gave a curt nod of their head understanding his instructions. Pyg placed a hand upon their shoulder, he leaned down pressing a kiss to the top of their head before gently shoving them away. He gave one more glance towards the couple, still Sofia was in Penguin’s arms, a look of love glowing in her brown eyes as she looked at a man he knew she did not really love.

How could she when James Gordon was alive?

“Pyg will fix her, Pyg will help her to realize that she only has eyes for Jim Gordon.” He cheerily spoke to himself as he made his way back down the alleyway.


	2. Kiss Good Night

Per usual Oswald insisted on walking Sofia to her door. It was a sweet gesture, something that reminded her that beneath the bratty demeanor of a gangster, he was a gentleman. She held his hand in hers as they made their way up the walk to her large home, the click of his cane against the concrete trail and her soft humming being the only sounds filling the still night air. She glanced down at him noticing his staring, a fond smile on his face as he looked at her. She felt her heart flutter in her chest, her ideas and expectations of him further fading and dying with each passing second. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze when they reached her door.

“Tonight, was lovely, thank you Oswald.” She spoke softly as she smiled down at him.

He brought her hand up to his lips pressing a soft kiss to the back of her hand.

“I find myself enjoying your company more so these days.”

She chuckled shaking her head, “What happened to me being number four on your to do list?” She teased, he blushed.

“You seem to have found yourself on a very different, much shorter list.” He said smiling brightly.

Part of her considered inviting him into her home, asking him in for a drink, and seeing if he might want to spend the night. She knew that sex was something that he wouldn’t be interested in, she wouldn’t push him in the topic when she knew it was something he wasn’t ready for, but something in her mind nagged at her that he should stay over.

“I think I prefer being on this new list.” 

She placed a hand against his cheek, thumb stroking over his soft skin as he leaned into her touch his eyes closing for a moment. 

“You’re a very handsome man, Oswald.” 

He opened his mouth ready to tell her again how wrong she was about her words, but before the denial could come she kissed him. He placed a hand against her back pulling her body close to him as they kissed, he found himself moaning softly as her tongue swiped over his bottom lip. The kiss ended sooner than she would have liked, but she knew he had business to attend to. 

“I should be saying good night.” He whispered bringing a hand to her cheek, she nuzzled against his palm.

“So soon?”

“I’m afraid so. Perhaps tomorrow night I can stay longer, we can have a nice drink by the fire, and I can enjoy your company a bit longer.” He offered softly, hopefulness filling his green eyes.

She leaned down kissing him, “I love that idea, it’ll be a date.” She whispered against his lips.

Oswald kissed her again before stepping back away from her.

“Excellent, well I really should get going now. I’ll stop by tomorrow, around five, is that alright?” He asked a slight shyness to him as he looked at her.

Sofia nodded her head, “Five is good. Good night, Oswald.”

“Good night.”

She stood by her door watching as he walked away, he paused halfway to the waiting car to look back at her, love filling his eyes as he looked at her once more. Once he was completely out of sight she pulled out her house key, unlocked her door, and stepped inside her home. Each moment spent with Oswald ever since that night at the Lounge she found herself caring more and more for him. Her plans of over throwing him for taking away what she felt belonged to her were diminishing as she realized she could have control over the city by being by his side. It wouldn’t be exactly ideal, but she would have everything she ever wanted, and she would also have Oswald. She smiled to herself, she began humming as she kicked off her heels leaving them by the door.

As she walked through her home she felt as if something was off, but she couldn’t put her finger on this feeling, she only knew that it grew with each step that she took. She felt as if somebody were watching her, some unknown presence in the mansion watching her every move. She laughed and shook her head realizing she was being foolish again. She remembered as a child she used to think their home was haunted, she always felt they were haunted by the ghosts of all the men and women that her father had murdered. Sofia remembered Christmas mornings where she knew most children would sneak down the stairs late night or early morning to try and catch a glimpse of Santa Claus leaving them presents, she would sneak down and find her father pulling the teeth from the mouth of an unfaithful mobster, or slicing the throat of an enemy.

Every now and again she would wish her childhood had been normal, she would wish that her father had just openly loved her and Mario, hadn’t treated them like they were an inconvenience then shipped them off out of state. For her there was something otherworldly about Gotham and something quite magical about New York, she did love Florida and the warmth of the sun on her skin, but she loved the feeling she had when she was in Gotham. 

Yet being back felt strange, she realized if her father could see her he would be ashamed, he would tell her that this was not a job a woman could pull off. He would find out she was falling in love with Oswald and he would sneer in disgust, he would pull her to the side and chastise her for a feeling she couldn’t control. That was why she just let the voicemails and missed calls from her father pile up, she knew what he would say, and she knew he would not approve of any of what she was doing.

She made her way to her kitchen, when she switched on the light she swore she saw a figure scurrying out of the room. She froze to the spot just staring, she closed her eyes, and counted to ten before opening them again. There was nothing and nobody in the room, it was only her in a home far too large for a single person. 

“Stop being so stupid Sofia.” She quietly scolded herself.

She stepped into the room, the air felt thick around her, and her movements felt almost sluggish. Initially she had planned on pouring herself a nice glass of wine, but instead she found herself approaching the knife block on the kitchen counter. Slowly she wrapped her fingers around the black handle of the carver knife, her movements were careful and cautious as she pulled the knife free, her grip tight. Again, she felt the heavy presence of somebody near, but she heard no footsteps.

There was a faint sound behind her, a type of clicking like nails tapping against a glass surface. Her eyes closed, and she counted to ten again, but this time when she opened her eyes she only felt more suffocated and surrounded. 

Sofia turned on her heels to face whatever was behind her, she didn’t even hesitate to plunge the knife into the stomach of the figure before her. Her eyes widened as she stared at what stood before her; whatever, whoever it was that stood before her nearly matched her in height, their face was covered by a white porcelain mask with thin spider webbed cracks running along its surface, the lips of the mask were painted a vibrant shade of pink, and the eyes looked empty. What hair they did have was a dark blond stained and matted with dried blood, the person wore a mint green dress with large white buttons running down the middle of it, a white ribbon wrapped around the waist. The knife protruded from their gut, blood soaking through the doll like dress. Most people would howl in pain, step back, or strike her, but this person or thing…. They just stood there, they tilted their head to the side as they looked at her as if confused by what she had just done. She pulled the knife out before plunging in again and again, she growled, and screamed needing them to react or just drop to the floor, but they remained perfectly still. 

Suddenly there was a hand on her throat, their grip was tight. She twisted the blade hoping to slacken their grip, but as quickly as she was losing her breath she was realizing that this thing did not feel a single thing she was doing to them. Her vision blurred darkening around the edges, her hands falling to her sides as she coughed and choked desperately trying to bring air into her starving lungs. The last thing she heard before falling unconscious was a manic giggling laced with loud oinks.


	3. Can't Speak

Sofia went in and out of consciousness, her sight was bleary and dark around the edges. Her throat was sore, when she attempted to sit up she found herself unable to move her arms or her legs. There was something on her face, something thick and heavy that made breathing difficult, each draw of breath leaving her feeling muggy and suffocated. She heard the soft sound of music playing, something instrumental and operatic, like something her father would listen to while drinking brandy by the fireplace. She continued to move, twisting her wrists and her ankles, the only result being the sensation of metal biting into her skin making her groan in pain. She turned her head to the side, what she could make out were figures pacing about whatever room she was being held in. 

“Ah it seems the princess is awake!” A voice laced with excitement called out.

Footsteps sounded growing nearer, she felt a gloved hand on her head petting her hair, she tried to jerk away from them, but could not.

“Fear not my child for Pyg is here to help, Pyg has seen the conflict you have been having, and plans on making up your mind for you.”

Confusion flooded her as well as a strong annoyance, she continued to struggle not even caring as she felt the metal cuffs cutting into and breaking her skin. She attempted to speak, to scream, or question this man about what he was even saying, but she found her words dying on her tongue. A sense of panic felt her as she realized she couldn’t move her lips, couldn’t speak, she could only cry and make various sound of distress.

“Ooh yes that would be the medicine my dear, I can’t have you screaming and working yourself up. I have watched you, I have seen that you have been in great distress. I am here to help you with that.”

Her body relaxed, she could feel the warmth of her blood as droplets ran from the wounds in her wrists and ankles, the cuts stinging as air hit them. She resided herself to the fact she was stuck in this darkened place with some lunatic, but she knew that she would be rescued by somebody sooner or later. At least that was her hope.


	4. Invitation for the Brave Knight

Jim woke late noon, he woke up sore and hung over. He sat on the edge of his bed with his face buried in his hands remembering the days when he would wake up around 6 AM ready to start his day. He even remembered his lazy days of sleeping late only for Barbara to come into his apartment and try to coax him from the comfort of his bed, that life felt like many lifetimes ago, as if those people they used to be no longer existed. Now he felt there was no point in getting up early, there was no warm body next to him in his bed, no singing coming from the too small kitchen. There was only him and the ghosts of his past. 

Knocking on the front door pulled him from his reverie. Slowly he rose from his bed, he retrieved his black dress pants from the floor pulling them on before exiting his room and going to his door. He for a fraction of a second considered grabbing his gun, but he felt there was no danger. Still something felt strange, but that was a feeling he got used to in Gotham. 

With a feeling of hesitation, he unlocked the door opening it only a crack, he peeked through and saw nothing but the bricks of the building across from him. He opened the door completely, leaning out he looked for some sign of life, but there was nothing. He could hear sirens, people fighting in the streets further down, and he could smell that repulsive mixture of chemical fumes and Thai food. He glanced down at the ground spotting a crimson red square of paper. He knelt picking it up running his fingers over the smooth surface before turning it over in his hands.

‘My dearest Jim, I found your princess, but she was in the wrong castle! I have taken her into my office in hopes of fixing her, perfecting her. I invite you to come, we can spend more time together, and I can show you how grateful I am for all you do for this city.

Love, Pyg’

Jim stared at the gold print on the card, he ran his index over the dents of the lettering and furrowed his brow in confusion. 

“Princess?”

He thought about the conversation he had with Pyg when he’d tied him to that chair a few days ago, but he didn’t recall anything that explained this letter. For a second he wondered if he meant Lee or Barbara, but Lee was far from Gotham and he hadn’t been to see Barbara for a while now. Jim stood and went back inside, he was quick to dress, grabbing his keys and his gun before heading out the door hoping that perhaps Harvey would have an idea as to what the lunatic in the pig mask meant by this.


	5. She Isn't Home

Oswald arrived at Sofia’s home early, normally for him arriving early meant catching people off guard, and having the upper hand. He used to do that with her, but after that night in the Lounge he had found himself coming to trust her suggestions and her ideas. Even if he had hated admitting it at first, she had brilliant ideas, ideas as good as if not better than the ones Ed used to have. He’d been quite scared of the prospect of entering a relationship with her, even openly considering her a friend had been hard for him, and the first time he had kissed her he’d been ready to run off in shame. Yet she hadn’t been disgusted, she hadn’t hit him, and she hadn’t laughed at him. She had grabbed his wrist, pulled him to her and told him it was okay, that she’d been waiting weeks for him to finally do that. It still amazed him how quickly things evolved or at least quick by his standards, still Zsasz seemed wary to trust her, and even if Oswald said it annoyed him that his right-hand man didn’t trust Sofia, he appreciated him looking out for his best interests none the less. 

He approached the front door, his sense of ease from a moment ago suddenly turning to something else. The dark oak wood door stood ajar, he could just barely see into the expansive mansion mostly catching glimpses of sheer darkness. Oswald’s grip on the handle of his cane tightened, he took a deep breath before pushing the door open and stepping inside. As his foot crossed the threshold that sense of unease turned into one of dread. The main room of the home looked as it always looked, but it felt as if nobody had lived in it for years. Slowly he walked through the room, he noticed Sofia’s black high heels sitting by the sofa, and knew that normally she wouldn’t just leave them there overnight. A voice in his head told him to not over think or jump to conclusions, but years of experience in terrible events left him feeling rightfully scared. He started to go to call her name, but his voice caught in his throat. His heart pounded hard in his chest, a sudden childish fear that if whatever might be lurking in the darkness heard him then it would get him too. Oswald shook his head, he closed his eyes tightly, and tried to force himself to relax. 

“You’re being silly, stop it.” He muttered under his breath to himself.

For one second he thought that if Ed were there he would probably have scolded him or scoffed at him acting this way. It was only a house, but it was also the home of the woman he found himself to be in love with, and he couldn’t shake the overwhelming feeling that something was very wrong. 

He continued through the home, his steps slow and uneven, he didn’t feel brave enough to even try for a normal pace let alone a run. As he approached the kitchen the feeling of fear grew, it appeared to be the one room that had a light on. It was a room he’d grown accustomed to in the past days and weeks, all the time spent just sitting at the kitchen island watching her as she cooked for the two of them. The extent of what she could make was short, simple things that seemed more fitting for teenagers or college students, but he loved it nonetheless. Now the brightly lit room felt threatening and ominous, he stood at the entrance for a good minute before finally forcing himself inside.

The first thing he noticed was the knocked over barstools, one of them lay broken on the floor. The next he noticed was the smears of drying blood along the surface of the island in the center of the kitchen. His heart dropped when he saw that, there was a childish sense of panic that came over him as he realized what might have happened, and what might be around the other side of the counter. He balled his hand into a fist, nails digging painfully into the palm of his hand as he limped towards the other side of the counter. He couldn’t help but notice all the blood on the floor, pools of it, and yet upon seeing the other side of the counter he saw no body. He let out a heavy sigh feeling just for a moment, a sense of relief, but still the anxiety and fear hung heavy. He saw the knife on the floor, its blade soaked with blood and bits of flesh. In his mind he tried to reasonably piece a scenario together, he hoped, and figured that the blood and the flesh on the knife came from whoever broke into the home. Which would mean the blood didn’t belong to his Sofia. He lifted his gaze from the floor to look around the room, his eyes landed on a red square of paper that rested by the stove. Carefully he walked over to it, doing his best to avoid the blood on the floor. He picked up the note turning it over in his hand, upon it he found a message written in gold lettering:

‘Dear Villain, I see you are looking for the princess, the one that does not belong to you. I have taken her, I plan on fixing her to make her see that it is not you she loves, but her knight in shining armor. She is not for you to keep, but I shall give you the chance to fight for her.

Pyg’

At the corner of the note he noticed a side note that appeared to be scrawled in black marker, the address to an abandoned meat packing factory. Normally he would roll his eyes at the cliché that the man with the pig obsession wanted to meet him there, but he found himself filled with far too much dread to feel his normal annoyance.

He sat the note down and reached into his pants pocket to retrieve his phone flipping it open, he immediately went to Zsasz’s number.

“It’s Zsasz, what do you want?”

“I need you to come over to Sofia’s home, now.”

There was a bit of a pause, leaving him annoyed.

“Victor!”

“Did she stand you up again?”

Oswald closed his eyes taking a deep breath, “No she did not stand me up. Something happened to her, the door was open when I got here, there’s blood all over the kitchen floor, and a note from that freak in the pig mask.”

“I’ll be over, do you want me to bring the guys?”

“I just want you to come here for now, but I’ll be wanting them later.”

Oswald ended the call, he shoved his phone back into his pocket. He continued to look at the blood pooled on the floor, he went over the contents of the note in his mind repeatedly trying to figure out what they might mean. He didn’t understand who the hell the knight even would be, unless Pyg was referring to himself. Oswald remembered the few times he had crossed paths with him, the lunatic having a habit of killing most the people on his payroll, and then destroying any place of side business he owned. He felt that he was doing this to vex him, shake him out of his stance of power, or perhaps he was doing this to fulfill some gross fantasy. He tried to figure out how he was going to fix her, there was nothing wrong with her, she was a perfectly healthy young woman. 

The note and the situation at hand nagged at his mind until Zsasz entered the room, his near black eyes scanning over the room before landing on his boss.

“This doesn’t look good, what’s the note say?”

Oswald picked it up and handed it to him, he watched as the other man looked over it then tucked it into the pocket of the black vest he wore.

“When do you want to go?”

“I feel tonight is a good idea, God knows how long he’s even had her….Do you know what the note might mean?”

Zsasz stared at him, unblinking for a moment. The silence and his lack of blinking was just the slightest bit unnerving.

“I think he means Gordon, the knight is Gordon.”

Oswald scoffed, “Gordon, James Gordon? Why the Hell would he be the knight?”

“Well I have been meaning to tell you this, but I did see Gordon coming here last week and a couple of nights ago I saw the two of them outside of a little Italian restaurant.”

Oswald felt rage fill him, he slammed his fist on the counter not even caring when he felt the cold thickness of blood staining his skin.

“And you didn’t think to tell me about this sooner?”

Zsasz shrugged, “You told me not to interfere, that you trusted her, and you didn’t want me to spy on her anymore. I figured I would wait until she did something wrong, then I could tell you, and we could handle the problem.”

“Look I’m your boss, if you find out that the woman I’ve been dating is out with Jim Gordon then you tell me about it.”

Oswald let out a shaky breath, he closed his eyes attempting to compose himself.

“Do you think Gordon knows about this?”

“Possible.”

Oswald pulled out his phone this time going for Jim’s number. By the second ring the detective answered, voice gruff and annoyed, his usually greeting when receiving a call from Oswald.

“Jim I was wondering….Did you perhaps receive a note from the lunatic in the pig mask?” He asked, voice strained as he tried to remain calm.

“What do you know about that?” Jim asked, a confused annoyance to his voice.

Oswald smiled, he felt he might know more than Jim.

“I was just curious, I received one as well. Do you know what the message might mean?”

“Not a clue, it just sounds like some crazy gibberish, the man isn’t exactly living in reality here.”

He could tell that he was lying, he was dying wondering what all Jim knew about this. Did he know that Pyg had taken Sofia, did he know what he was planning on doing to her to ‘fix’ her? He knew if he pressed more or said the wrong thing then Jim would figure it all out, the last thing he wanted was for Jim to show up to the factory.

“You’re quite right, but do let me know if you learn more since the bastard has been hurting my business as of late. Bye Jim.”

He snapped his phone closed then put it away again.

“Why didn’t you tell him about the factory?” 

“He knows more than he’s letting on, but he isn’t disclosing the information that he has. I refuse to give that man anything, especially if he’s been seeing Sofia.”

Zsasz smirked, “You’re jealous.”

“I am not jealous, I’m annoyed that the woman I trusted and love might possibly be plotting or planning with Gordon.”

“Love?”

“Shut up, just call your men and tell them where to meet us. I want Pyg’s head on a silver platter by the end of the night.”

He shoved past Zsasz making his way out of the mansion and towards the waiting black Dodge Challenger, he got into the car slamming the door shut behind him. He rubbed a hand over his face letting out a small frustrated yell. A million thoughts were bustling around his mind giving him a headache, he wasn’t sure where to even begin on his thoughts or what he was feeling. A part of his mind told him not even to go after her, to just tell Jim everything he knew so that he could go play hero for the woman he apparently was seeing in secret for some reason. Oswald tried to think about why she could be out seeing Gordon, what business could happen between the two of them, and none of his thoughts were good ones. Still though his mind returned to worrying about her, the fear that when he found her she may be dead, or God knows what. Even if she wasn’t loyal to him, even if she was seeing Jim on the side, he still found himself not wanting any harm to befall her. He laughed realizing he was falling back into the same old trap from before, falling in love with somebody and giving them the full chance to hurt or even kill him.


	6. Time Is Nearly Up Jimmy

Jim arrived at the factory alone. Due to the tension between himself and Harvey in the past few weeks he knew that asking him to come along as back up might not be the best of ideas. He knew that whether this mission went well or horribly that Harvey would be on his ass the second he got back to the precinct. He exited the cruiser and approached the large looming building, the atmosphere was gloomy, and in the back of his mind he felt as if thousands of eyes were watching him from the busted windows of the building. He shook the thought from his mind as he drew his gun and entered the building. The inside was quiet, a still silence as if time stood still. His footsteps echoed as he made his way through large vacant rooms and long hallways, he heard the scurrying of rats and the rustle of birds flapping their wings. He started to believe that this was another wild chase, that the clues he’d received hadn’t meant to come to this place, that perhaps this was just another trap or a distraction of sorts. 

As he stalked through the halls he thought over Pyg’s first message and then the ones that followed. He thought back to Sofia Falcone’s home, abandoned, and the kitchen looking like a blood bath. He tried to figure out why on Earth Pyg would take her, perhaps he’d been watching her the way he had been watching them all, studying, and realizing she wasn’t clean of sin. Jim tightened the grip on his gun when music began to fill the halls of the factory, the sound faint, but then growing with each step that he took.

Sofia wasn’t clean, but she also hadn’t gone through with anything yet. Jim spent hours working to figure out why she was a princess, why Pyg would take her of all people as bait to a potential trap. He gritted his teeth as he realized the chances of her already being dead were high, he hated to admit to himself that in a way he didn’t care. He knew Falcone’s daughter was up to something, her talk of reclaiming the city reminding him so much of Oswald only a few years ago. Bright crazed eyes and a untrustworthy smile, this maddening determination to use and kill whoever stood in the way of a supposed greatness. His main reason for wanting to even attempt to save her life came down to two reasons; he knew Carmine would have his head in a box if he didn’t and just like with Oswald on the docks, he knew this wasn’t who he was. He knew that he wasn’t the man who could just take a life, at least that was a comforting lie he told himself night after night as flashes of all the lives he’d taken flashed through his mind.

He shook the thoughts from his mind as the music grew louder, loud to the point it made his ears begin to ache. Jim stopped outside of the room that was the source of the noise, a large rusted metal door with ‘welcome’ scrawled in red over its surface, the writing almost looking like that of a child’s. Something about it sent a shiver down his spine, he’d heard rumors that Pyg used kids, experimented on them and kept them like slaves. 

One second long pause later he kicked open the door, gun drawn as he entered the room looking around to make sure it was clear. Inside the empty room he spotted a record player set up in the corner, a TV set on a cart sat in the middle of the room, and Pyg appeared to be lost in his own world. He spun around the room, his moves oddly light and delicate for a large man wearing the head of a pig over his face. In one hand he held a meat cleaver and the other a carving knife, he waved the carving knife in time with the melody as if conducting an orchestra that was not there.

“Put the weapons down. Now!”

Pyg continued his dancing, he spun on his toes to face Jim. A smile played on his lips as he took a bow, eyes peering up at the man before him, the look in the crazy man’s eyes was something akin to love, and it scared Jim.

Slowly he straightened back up, he chuckled as he trained his eyes on the gun pointed at him. 

“Now Jimmy that is no way to talk to me, I am only trying to help you, and to help our princess.”

“Where is Sofia Falcone?”

“You mean the princess? Now she is quite the feisty thing, she put up quite the fight when I sent my dolls to retrieve her.” Pyg let out a heavy sigh, he shook his head. “My poor darling was bleeding all over the place, I couldn’t save them sadly enough, but I can save her.” He said gesturing towards the small TV.

“What are you talking about?”

Pyg promptly turned to face away from him, hands behind his back. “Do you enjoy this song Jim, It’s Musetta’s Waltz, quite a lovely song, our song. I picked it out just for you….For us.”

“Where is Falcone, tell me what you did to her.”

He took a step closer to Pyg, he for a second considered putting a bullet in the back of his head, but he knew if he did that then he would never find out where he was keeping Sofia, if she was even alive. He watched as the man sat the cleaver down on the tray, watched as he pressed the power button on the TV. Pyg stepped aside and pointed towards the screen.

Jim stepped closer to the set, he lowered his gun as a feeling of sickness came over him.

On the screen was an image of a room, a room set up like a mixture of a child’s room and a hospital room. On a stretcher was Sofia Falcone, her face obscured by a porcelain mask, her body lay still, but he could hear her sobbing. Around her stood figures in dresses, their faces hidden by masks similar to the one that she was currently wearing.

“What….What the hell is this?” Jim asked, his voice broken and hoarse as fear coursed through him.

“She isn’t quite finished yet, I was hoping you wouldn’t be early, but I know you well…..My dolls are well trained, she should be just fine after the procedure.”

“What procedure?” Jim asked pointing the gun at Pyg once more.

“I have to fix all those nasty thoughts in her brain, make her realize the truth of things. She’s been betraying you Jimmy, she’s been running around Penguin giving him the looks she was giving you.”

He tightened his grip, jaw clenched as he glared at the man before him.

“What are you doing to her?”

“A simple lobotomy. She’ll be all fixed up in no time, just an hour-long procedure to wipe her mind of thinking she’s in love with that wretched bird.” 

Jim kept his eyes locked on Pyg, still he could hear the muffled sound of Sofia’s pained groans and ragged sobs, her voice sounding hoarse and choked as if she’d been crying for hours, days even.

“Tell me what room she’s in.”

“Dear Jimmy, I left clues and arrows that will lead you to your princess, but I must say you should hurry….My little dolls alerted me the villain of your love story has entered and plans on stealing the princess from you if you don’t get her in time.” Pyg warned wagging his index finger in Jim’s face.


End file.
